Colombian Coffee Crop Year 2013-’14 Yields Bigger Harvest

BOGOTA, Colombia — The Colombian Coffee Growers Federation’s (FNC) reported that Colombia, the world’s leading producer of mild washed arabica coffee, registered an increase in production at the end of September. FNC attributed the improvement to its ambitious crop renovation and coffee leaf rust control programs.

Production for the latest coffee harvest year (Oct. 2013-Sept. 2014) reached 12.1 million 60-kilo bags of green coffee, according to FNC. This is a 22% increase, compared with the 9.9 million bags produced during the same period of the previous year.

Similarly, coffee production in September 2014 reached a total of 912,000 60-kilo bags, reflecting a 6% increase over the 860,000 60-kilo bags produced in September 2013.

Year to date (January-September) coffee production reached a total of 8.8 million 60-kilo bags, marking a 16% increase, compared with the 7.6 million bags produced between January and September 2013.

FNC said the production increase and higher market prices are generating higher income for Colombian coffee growing families. Between January and September 2014, the coffee harvest value, including government support, reached $1.8 billion. This reportedly translated into a 19% increase compared to the harvest value of the same period of the previous year.